Many historians believe that President Thomas Jefferson invented the wooden clothes hanger in the late eighteenth century. Since then, a myriad of hanger designs have become commercially available.
With the advent of the wetsuit, sometime in the mid 1950's, came a need for a hanger that was adapted to hold the relatively heavy wetsuit (heavier than typical garments), which can weigh up to about 25 pounds when saturated with water (wet), or sometimes more!
In the last fifty years or so, many wetsuit-specific hangers have become commercially available or otherwise proposed in the art. Early introductions focused on material strength for supporting the weight of a wetsuit. More modernly, however, other hangers have been introduced which suggest solutions to other problems associated with the care of wetsuits.
For example:
Ryan, U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,739, issued Aug. 21, 1990, discloses a “WETSUIT WASHING HANGER DEVICE”; hereinafter referred to as “Ryan”. The hanger disclosed by Ryan does not include a hanger hook but instead includes a bent wire configured to attach with a shower head, whereby the shower head is utilized as a source for water flow introduced into the hanger and directed toward a wetsuit hanging thereon.
Darling, U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,624, issued Feb. 5, 1991, discloses a “WETSUIT WASHER”; hereinafter referred to as “Darling”. The hanger disclosed by Darling includes two parallel cross arms, one arranged above another, a top cross arm is configured to communicate water downwardly spraying through holes therein, whereas the bottom cross arm is configured to hold the wetsuit.
Santos, U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,487, issued Aug. 6, 1991, discloses a “SPRAY HANGER FOR WET SUIT”; hereinafter referred to as “Santos”. The hanger in Santos appears to include a series of PVC type tubing and connectors arranged to form a three dimensional sprinkler system, wherein as best understood a wetsuit is placed on the hanger of Santos and water is communicated to rinse the inside. While the concept of a rinse hanger is communicated in Santos, this disclosed hanger is something that would be home-made. The hanger of Santos is quite rudimentary and cumbersome, and lacks the manufacturability and distribution/shipping capability of a commercially viable product.
Plumley et al., US 2005/0274751, published Dec. 15, 2005, discloses a “WETSUIT RINSING HANGER”; hereinafter referred to as “Plumley”. While Plumley describes a product concept resulting in a hanger that at least conceptually suggests the ability to rinse a wetsuit hanging thereon, the disclosure is not enabling such that a manufacturer might make and use the product. For example, those with skill in the art, upon review of the Plumley disclosure, would question inter alia how the product is molded, what type of plastic molding process, what do the molds look like, what material is used to make the hanger?, etc. As best understood, the product described in Plumley has never been manufactured for the reason that it is either (i) not manufacturable; or (ii) manufacture of the product is cost prohibitive. While Plumley discloses the concept of a wetsuit rinsing hanger, the disclosure is not enabling such that one with skill in the art can make and use the disclosed product. Other problems with the product described in Plumley include: (i) lack of surface area support which results in wetsuit shoulder fatigue and failure; (ii) as disclosed the hanger hook, when pressed into the hanger body, will penetrate the hanger body thereby resulting in product failure, diminished water flow, low pressure at spray holes, etc.
While none of these wetsuit rinsing hangers disclosed in the patent art has experienced commercial success, there are a handful of wetsuit hangers that currently represent the bulk of mainstream wetsuit hanger sales. Accordingly, those hangers defining the current state of the art include:
McJunkin, US 2006/0226177, published Oct. 12, 2006, discloses a “WETSUIT HANGER DRYER”; hereinafter referred to as “McJunkin”. McJunkin discloses a hanger that includes a fan built inside of the hanger and adapted to generate a flow of air for circulation within the volume of the wetsuit hanging thereon such that the wetsuit might dry faster.
Watson, U.S. Pat. No. 8,875,961, issued Nov. 4, 2014, discloses a “WETSUIT HANGER”; hereinafter referred to as “Watson”. The hanger system disclosed in Watson is merely a pair of bent bars attached to a wall, the bars can be individually adjusted to extend outwardly or downwardly from the wall, wherein a wetsuit can be folded over the hanger bars and stored for drying.
Finally, while not known to be in the patent art, probably the most common wetsuit hanger of the current commercially available hangers is the HangPro™ “SlideHanger”, which can be further reviewed online at: http://www.thehangpro.com/slidehangeraspx. The SlideHanger is a monolithic one-piece molded hanger body having a hook and an arm extending from the hook and bent about a one hundred eighty degree bend, wherein a wetsuit is folded at or near the waist and slid over the bent arm of the SlideHanger. Those having skill in the art would likely agree that the SlideHanger is the current state of the art in commercially available wetsuit hangers.
However, at least O'Neill wetsuits, currently one of the largest wetsuit manufacturers in the World, and XTERRA wetsuits, in their respective instruction guides for wetsuit care, each suggests that a wetsuit should not be folded on a hanger or otherwise. Thus, while the SlideHanger may be the commercial state of the art, there is a long felt and continued need for an improved wetsuit hanger.
While the above discussion is centered on wetsuits, such as those worn by surfers, divers, triathletes, and other active aquatic activity participants, the contents and discussion of this document can be similarly applied to other garments which might benefit from a structural support and rinse capability in a hanger. Such related problems and other applications will be easily recognized by those having skill in the art of sporting garments and active wear. Therefore, the discussion of the background art is not intended to be used to limit the scope of the herein-described invention.